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Dessert

Beignets

A deep‑fried doughnut made with yeast, flour, sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, and shortening, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and evaporated milk work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 804 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Beignets

3 beignets per person
Oven200 degree F (keep warm)
Time2-3 minutes per batch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Put the warm water into a large bowl, then sprinkle in the yeast and a couple teaspoons of the sugar and stir until thoroughly dissolved.

  2. Let proof for 10 minutes.

  3. Add the rest of the sugar, salt, eggs, and evaporated milk.

  4. Gradually stir in 4 cups of the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and thoroughly blended.

  5. Beat in the shortening, then add the remaining flour, about 1/3 cup at a time, beating it in with a spoon until it becomes too stiff to stir, then working in the rest with your hands.

  6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight in a greased bowl.

Shape and fry

  1. Roll the dough out onto a floured board or marble pastry surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch, then cut it into rectangles 2‑1/2 inches by 3‑1/2 inches with a sharp knife.

  2. Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 360 degrees F.

  3. Fry the beignets about 3 or 4 at a time until they are puffed out and golden brown on both sides, about 2‑3 minutes per batch.

  4. Turn them over in the oil with tongs once or twice to get them evenly brown, since they rise to the surface of the oil as soon as they begin to puff out.

  5. Drain each batch on paper towels, place on a platter lined with several layers of paper towels, and keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until they're all done.

Serve

  1. Serve 3 beignets per person, sprinkling heavily with powdered sugar, and serve hot with cafe au lait.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1072Calories
27 gProtein
53 gFat
120 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + evaporated milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  3. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Evaporated milk + flourtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together495 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Yeast
Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes it rise and become airy.
Eggs
Add richness and structure, helping bind the dough and give it tenderness.
Evaporated milk
Adds moisture and milk solids that help browning and a soft crumb.
Flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure and chew.
Sugar
Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and golden browning.
Vegetable shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and keeps the fried beignets soft.

The step that matters

Frying at the right temperature and turning them in the oil. Oil at 360°F lets the dough puff and brown on the outside while the inside cooks through. Cooler oil makes greasy, heavy beignets, and hotter oil browns them too fast. Turning them helps even browning, since they rise to the surface as they puff.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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